More Bill Richardson: Everyone’s misinterpreting what I said about defining Ted Cruz as a Hispanic

posted at 8:01 pm on May 6, 2013 by Allahpundit

Via the Free Beacon. He says he didn’t mean Cruz can’t be defined as Hispanic, just that Cruz shouldn’t be defined exclusively by race. His problem is that he’s saying this against a backdrop of 25 years of liberals accusing Clarence Thomas of being inauthentically black because his politics are right-wing rather than left. And political operatives on both sides understand that if Cruz lands on the ticket in three years, attacks of this sort in ways subtle and not will be thrown at him. Peter Beinart wrote a piece for Newsweek this morning titled “Yes, Democrats Can Be Racist” (really?) chastising Dem Dick Harpootlian for his nasty comment about Nikki Haley, and speculating that that’ll become more frequent on the left as Republicans elect more minorities. True, but the blowback potential from cracks like that guarantees that they’ll be rare-ish. The likelier leftist reaction to GOP diversity, I think, will be to double down on the sort of determinism that Thomas has been demagogued with. You won’t hear people tell Haley to go back where she came from, you’ll hear them tell her that she’s betrayed her race by carrying water for the “white party.” The boss emeritus has been getting that from the left for decades. I think it might get worse before it gets better.

Anyway, enough Richardson. The more interesting Cruz-related clip yesterday came, surprisingly, from James Carville, who was near-rapturous about Cruz’s retail skills. Watch below. I can’t tell if this is Serpenthead paying legit respect to a worthy adversary or some sort of sly briar-patch play where he’s promoting a guy whom he thinks would be easiest for Hillary to beat. Verdict?

Update: After you’re done with these two clips, go watch “Morning Joe” wrestle with the fact that, by their own admission, Harpootlian’s remark about Haley would have been five-alarm news if he was a Republican. That fits nicely with the point I’ve been making lately about Gosnell: The media is more open about its biases than it was 10 years ago. Just don’t expect them to do much about it.

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Anyway, enough Richardson. The more interesting Cruz-related clip yesterday came, surprisingly, from James Carville, who was near-rapturous about Cruz’s retail skills. Watch below. I can’t tell if this is Serpenthead paying legit respect to a worthy adversary or some sort of sly briar-patch play where he’s promoting a guy whom he thinks would be easiest for Hillary to beat. Verdict?

I think Carville is being honest because he followed it up with the Cruz will “eat their lunch” or something like in relation to the other GOP opponents. I think it is just his opinion of what will happen, not some political ploy.

Hillary has bigger problems right now than worrying about who the GOP will nominate for 2016…

You won’t hear people tell Haley to go back where she came from, you’ll hear them tell her that she’s betrayed her race by carrying water for the “white party.”

The Democrats say this about Republican women, even though nearly half the female population consistently votes for the GOP, including a majority of White women. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to hear one female Republican politician say “if our party is so anti-woman, why do so many women vote for us?”.

It’s the typical liberal dodge: “That’s not what I meant but you rubes aren’t savvy enough to capture my nuance.” Problem for libs is that we hear what they’re saying, and that gets them in trouble. If they can’t make a point without being ‘misunderstood’, I recommend a good college course in effective communication.

The LSM no longer has to hide its bias, which it sees as ‘discernment’ and not a social sin like for Conservatives. There are two dictionaries in the world: The one that is changeable for liberals to suit their needs of the moment, and the other, more-limited and definitive one used by normal folks who understand the English language.

Bill Richardson: Everyone’s misinterpreting what I said about defining Ted Cruz as a Hispanic

No Bill, you made yourself clear. What I want to know is who appointed you arbiter on who is a “true Hispanic” and who is not. Fact of the matter you blowhard is that you don’t get to decide how anybody else defines themselves.

He was born in Calgary, Alberta, on Dec. 22, 1970, to a Cuban-born father, Rafael, and a Delaware-born mother, Eleanor. Both of his parents were in Canada working in the oil industry. They and Cruz moved to Texas, where his parents went to college, when the future senator was 4 years old. Federal law says that people born outside the U.S. to a parent or parents who are citizens and who have lived in the country are considered citizens at birth.

Some news organizations have taken a whack at answering this question as well. The Texas Tribune, for instance, said confidently in August 2012 that Cruz could be considered a natural-born citizen because his mother was a U.S. citizen. “Bottom line: Despite being born in Canada, Ted Cruz can be considered a natural-born U.S. citizen,” the Tribune wrote.

Still, his Canadian birth means he’s also technically a Canadian citizen, according to Naomi Alboim, a professor who studies citizenship at Queen’s University in Ontario. But even if Cruz were to openly claim his Canadian citizenship along with his U.S. citizenship, that wouldn’t legally prevent him from becoming president. There’s no statutory bar to the presidency for dual citizens.
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Richardson said, “I’m a Hispanic, I don’t define myself as a Hispanic” Wait a sec, you just defined yourself as a Hispanic, the next breath you took you said I don’t DEFINE myself as a Hispanic. These leftists are so used to lying, they think no one will notice.

Regarding Carville, jeeze, the formula is so simple. Cruz is just a conservative being conservative and taking it to the opposition. This is so rare for a GOP rep. Imagine if most of them on Cap Hill were like that? Then we’d actually stand a chance.

Phat P-O-S! When he was Energy Secretary under Bubba, the chicoms walked out with untolled number of national secrets from the National Labs. It was so bad that KKKBird promised that if his name ever came up for nomination again, he’d vote against him.

“Barack Obama is the best candidate for the Hispanic community because our community wants a united country. Obama is an immigrant. When he speaks to Latinos, he doesn’t just speak about immigration and civil rights…”

I’m giving 5 to 1 odds that Three Chins Richardson has a Twinkie and half a Sub stored in that gullet below his chins. He looks like a Stork trying to hide its fresh catch. Richardson is not “Hispanic” he’s more or less defined as a Taco Bell Grande Burrito Stuffed with Extra Fat, but born on this side of the Mexican Border. He ain’t much of a Jumper or Swimmer. He just sort of lays there and eats.

Unlike Marco Rubio,Ted Cruz is apparently quite comfortable in his Hispanic skin.He doesn’t feel the need to pander relentlessly to the Hispanic community and sell his principles for a handful of votes!

The Democrats say this about Republican women, even though nearly half the female population consistently votes for the GOP, including a majority of White women. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to hear one female Republican politician say “if our party is so anti-woman, why do so many women vote for us?”.

ardenenoch on May 6, 2013 at 8:14 PM

Exactly. Every election we’re subjected to left wing concern trolling about the GOP coalition. Bombshell: the GOP is weak among some groups. Bombshell #2: because we’re in an era of 51-49 national elections, that means the Democrats have their weak points too.

My favorite one is that no one in the national media seems to think its a problem that Democrats can’t bust into the 40s any more among white people. Our country is getting more diverse, but shouldn’t it be a concerning for the Democrats that they’re getting flattened among the people that culturally dominate this country?

Of course, it’s all concern trolling, from either side. Politics, in the end, is math. Right now the Republicans are trying to get to 51% by take a big majority of the majority and small minorities of the minority, while the Democrats are trying to get to 51% by taking huge majorities among minorities and a minority of the majority.